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<\/p>\nFile photo of an orca at Marineland Antibes (Image: AP)<\/p>\n
In a closed marine zoo in France, trainers of a male killer whale are sexually stimulating him once a month in order to prevent him from mating with his mother, according to a report in BBC.<\/p>\n
The marine zoo, Marineland Antibes, was closed in January but a new home for the orcas is yet to be found.<\/p>\n
The French government and animal rights groups haven\u2019t agreed yet on where to move Wikie, 24, and Keijo, 11, leaving the two whales stuck in their current situation, the report mentioned. For the time being, the pair is being cared for by their trainers at the facility in southern France.<\/p>\n
The park closed before a new French law starts in December, which will ban using whales in marine shows.<\/p>\n
Last week, activist group TideBreakers got the overhead footage that showed two trainers standing at the edge of a pool next to the killer whale as he lay upside down.<\/p>\n
While one trainer held on to a flipper, the other stimulated Keijo, who was seen writhing about in the water.<\/p>\n
In the footage, the female orca was seen in an adjacent pool facing towards where her son was being held. Keeping them in separate pools permanently is considered harmful to their wellbeing as orcas are sociable animals.<\/p>\n
The video was shot on August 12 and managers at Marineland told BBC News the action was required as Keijo is reaching adolescence and has increasingly strong sexual urges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to avoid inbreeding with his mother, but also to prevent them from fighting and injuring each other, Marineland decided to sexually stimulate Keijo [to relieve him of his] tensions,” the outlet quoted the managers as saying.<\/p>\n
The managers added that \u201calthough spectacular”, sexually stimulation is \u201cnatural and totally painless for the animals.”<\/p>\n
The French ecology ministry, responsible for approving where the orcas will be moved, said Marineland told them that Keijo is stimulated once a month and that a veterinary expert has been involved in the process.<\/p>\n
While, Valerie Greene, a member of TideBreakers who worked at SeaWorld Orlando for a decade, said the stimulation of Keijo for sexual relief is unusual.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a former killer whale trainer, I\u2019ve never seen this behaviour performed for anything other than attempting semen collection for use in artificial insemination,” the British outlet quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n
Female orcas in marine zoos can be artificially inseminated to have more calves, which are then used to attract visitors and perform in shows.<\/p>\n
This practice was common until about ten years ago when countries like France and the US passed laws banning many breeding methods.<\/p>\n
However, Japan has fewer restrictions on breeding, and activists think marine zoo managers there might want to buy orca semen, especially since their only male orca, Earth, died on August 3.<\/p>\n
\u2018Perverse New Low\u2019<\/p>\n
Just over a week after Japan\u2019s only male orca\u2019s death, Marineland\u2019s trainers were seen stimulating Keijo.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeijo is inbred, so it\u2019s even more concerning that his semen might be used for breeding of captive orcas,” Greene further said.<\/p>\n
The report suggests that Keijo\u2019s mother and father are half-siblings.<\/p>\n
However, managers at Marineland deny this was why Keijo was stimulated. They further said the sale of semen is not allowed and that any export would need authorisation from the French government.<\/p>\n
The French ecology ministry also said that the marine zoo have also told them there is no such intention of collecting and exporting Keijo\u2019s semen for breeding purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of the reasoning, it\u2019s sad that this is a priority when Keijo desperately needs to be rescued because his environment is unsafe,” Greene added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion that trainers are providing sexual relief to an orca\u2026 is a perverse new low in the captivity industry\u2019s morally bankrupt practices.”<\/p>\n
Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com’s general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manisha.Roy@nw18…Read More<\/p>\n Manisha Roy is a Senior Sub-Editor at News18.com’s general desk. She comes with an experience of over 5 years in media industry. She covers politics and other hard news. She can be contacted at Manisha.Roy@nw18… Read More<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google, News18’s viral page features trending stories, videos<\/a>, and memes, covering quirky incidents, social media buzz<\/a> from india<\/a> and around the world, Also Download the\u00a0News18 App<\/a>\u00a0to stay updated!<\/p>\n News<\/a> viral<\/a> Trainers Sexually Stimulate Orca To Stop Him From Mating With His Mother At Marine ZooDisclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Updated:August 25, 2025, 16:10 IST Marineland Antibes trainers sexually stimulate Keijo to prevent inbreeding with his mother,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[56404,56402,49,48,56401,56399,56400,56403,56405,56398,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-96698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-rights-orca","9":"tag-artificial-insemination-orca","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-captive-orca-welfare","13":"tag-killer-whale-inbreeding","14":"tag-marineland-antibes","15":"tag-orca-breeding-ban","16":"tag-orca-captivity-france","17":"tag-orca-sexual-stimulation","18":"tag-science","19":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"authorimg\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/whatsapp-image-2025-01-18-at-18.11.52-2025-01-50eab38a6cff788db034d677dc6a903a.jpeg\")
Manisha Roy<\/a><\/p>\n